MAX AMMOUNT OF CHICKENS?

[Cierabug]

Whats the maximum ammount of chickens you guys are able to care for yourselves? And how long does it take to feed/water/clean the flock and the coops? I've heard of some small farms where one person cares for 500 birds , but I have no idea if thats comfortable or if thats extremely close to being overwhelmed.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I have taken care of 60 birds at once but it only takes me 10 minutes a day to deal with the daily chores for them. I cleaned the coop once a quarter as I deep littered the coop.

 

[1cock2hens]

depends on the set up how easy it is. I grew up on a commercial chicken farm.. started with 3 older non computerized houses that held 22k each, with one person it took about an hour a day per house. as i got older we had 4 houses that held about 33k each still took the same amount of time. most of the time is spent doing things like picking up the dead, raising and lowering feed/ water lines and double checking reedings from the computers. a couple times a year each house gets a deep clean but that is done by an outside contractor.

 

[sylviethecochin]

In this case, basic care takes very little time. Ten minutes sounds about right, though I like to sit there a bit longer and watch my chickens to be sure they're acting as they should.

Your real investment is in proper husbandry and setup from the start, making sure that no large problems arise in future.

Swampy area? Bacteria waiting to happen. Low quality feed? Poor performance and sick chickens. Coop you can't enter without banging your head off of the top? Hours of frustration in the making. Buying straight run? Have a separate pen for cockerels.

(In fact, a separate pen is a good idea anyway; eventually you're going to want to get more chickens to replenish your laying stock, and they'll at some point be at that awkward stage where they're too small to integrate and too large to keep in a box.)

EDT: Unsecured feed attracts rodents, by the way. So that's a big consideration.

 

[aart]

depends on the set up how easy it is.

Ditto Dat^^^
....and depends on the person doing the work, and other parts of their lives, if it's overwhelming or not.

@Cierabug I see from your other threads that you appear to be a fairly new chicken keeper with aspirations of being an 'egg farmer' and are doing your homework for various aspects of such an endeavor. Start smaller, not 500, get some experience under your belt with taking care of and housing the birds you have now, as well as your market and the regulations for selling eggs in your area. After a year or two, you'll have the answers to your question of how much time it takes to care for more.

Adding your location to your profile so it shows under your avatar will help people give you better information.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Mrs. K]

More always seems better, and very often it isn't. The easiest way to reduce the feed bill, is to reduce the number of birds you are feeding.

I agree with AARt, start smaller, do not max out your set up the first year, check your markets, check your feed costs. Animal agriculture is a big initial set up, I know, I make my living from cattle.

Good luck.

 

[Cierabug]

Ditto Dat^^^
....and depends on the person doing the work, and other parts of their lives, if it's overwhelming or not.

@Cierabug I see from your other threads that you appear to be a fairly new chicken keeper with aspirations of being an 'egg farmer' and are doing your homework for various aspects of such an endeavor. Start smaller, not 500, get some experience under your belt with taking care of and housing the birds you have now, as well as your market and the regulations for selling eggs in your area. After a year or two, you'll have the answers to your question of how much time it takes to care for more.

Adding your location to your profile so it shows under your avatar will help people give you better information.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1690432

Thanks for all the help with my chicken related questions lately. I've already been keeping chickens for 3 years.I'm just starting to sell eggs and grow my flock though.I started with 6 hems and will have 25 chickens soon.